


Lucien's son and Azriel's daughter are mates

by sarah_bae_maas



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Future Fic, Next Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-16 23:35:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16963605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_bae_maas/pseuds/sarah_bae_maas
Summary: Originally posted on April 10th, 2018, and an extension of my Elucien baby headcanons





	Lucien's son and Azriel's daughter are mates

She did not know what to do.

He was nice, and as horribly wild as her, and his personality was as fiery as his hair, but she did not know if she wanted a mate at her age. She had left him only hours ago, leaving him in the sacred forest after hours of awkward yet nice conversation, and was now absentmindedly running her hands through the sand that lined the Sidra, cast completely in shadows as she huddled under one of the many bridges like a water troll. Her feet were bare and she was wiggling her toes in the water, squirming as tiny fish came to nibble on them.

A mate. When she was so very young.

“I didn’t expect to see you here so soon.”

Her tense shoulders relaxed at the sound of her older brother’s voice. She gazed up at him, his hair the same blonde as hers and his Illyrian tattoos snaking so far down his arms she could see them on his hands even though he was wearing a jacket. She silently admitted to herself that she should’ve gone to see him rather than wallow under a bridge, he was very knowledgeable on mates, having met his own as a young lad, and would know what to do.

“Oh Raziya,” he sighed. He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, his presence calming. “It’s not as bad as it seems, I promise.”

“I know it’s not bad, I just don’t know if this is something I want. I’ve never liked being so… confined to a reality.”

He hummed in agreement, knowing her better than anybody.

“Please tell me what to do.” She turned to him wide eyed and diminished, leaning her head on him and reaching for his hand. It was a habit she’d had since she was a babe, and it used to scare the hell out of her father Azriel and mother Morrigan. She would take her brother’s hand and steal his wedding band. She would twirl it in her fingers, focusing on the glint of gems and onyx rather than whatever she was feeling at the time. Her parents were scared she would swallow it and lodge it in her throat, but the morbid fear never came to fruition. Her big brother was always too close and too protective to let that happen. Well, not with the ring. A few coins maybe.

The ring was the flashiest thing he owned, other than his crown, and it had transfixed her since the moment she’d been born. Now, even though she was certainly no child, she did the same thing, her gracious brother letting her.

“You don’t have to accept this bond. The choice is completely yours, but I would suggest you at least get to know him properly first, separate from the expectations that come when he’s the child of Lucien and Elain. I know when it came to my mateship, I preferred having been friends with her first. I fell in love with her long before I felt the bond.”

“Friends.” She could do that. She lightly splashed her feet in the water, making it spatter across onto her brother. He wrinkled his nose as it landed on his face, and grinned as he wiped it away.

“I’ve heard good things about that one,” he said, referring to her mate. “I actually know him quite well since he spent so much time at the Illyrian camps. He’s… eccentric. Calculating. A lot like Helion in that sense.”

She grinned and stood up, wiping off the sand from her flowing skirt and inadvertently getting it on her brother.

“You’re so wise in your old age,” she told him.

“Where are you going?” he asked, his hand grasping her elbow before she could disappear. His face was stony with concern for her, and it was clear that he would prefer she went home with him then wander off again.

“To go be _friends_ with my mate.” She grinned and turned, but she felt her brother’s magic leash her there before she could winnow.

“What?” she demanded.

“My ring, Raziya. Do you know the wrath I would face if I lost that?” he laughed, and caught the glinting band as she tossed it back to him. Maybe not so hesitant about her wandering then. “And I’m not that old.”

“Poor Prince Kaden, I’m sorry for troubling you so.” She blew him a kiss before whirling into nothing as she winnowed off to another court.

_____

His grandfather had given him free reign to destroy a forest in the Day Court. He had said that the vegetation was sparse and was having trouble growing – having it burned to nothing but ash and cinders would do it good.

So, there he was, spewing flames and making it rain hellfire. He made it tear through the trees and lick up their trunks until they were disintegrating. The grass covering the ground didn’t stand a chance against him. It wasn’t even graceful patterns or his normal controlled magic, there was no elegance to the catastrophic nature of his flames.

He was breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his bare chest as he walked through and demolished everything in his path. Later, he would plant the seeds so the forest could start anew, like how now the seed of thought about his mate had been planted in him, and he would never be the same. He never thought he would find a mate, let alone now. He should have realised it was an inevitability – his family had an uncanny number of mates in it.

When he finished, he stood and looked around him. For kilometres around him there was nothing but warm black dust that swirled and spread with the wind, and finally his heavy and fast thoughts were at ease.

Earlier that morning had not been the first time he’d met Raziya, but it had been the first time in years. She had grown from this slightly gangly teenager to this strong woman, tall and powerful.

She reminded him of his fire.

As if his thoughts of her summoned the lady herself, he heard her melodic voice say, “What did these poor trees ever do to you, Lord Lachlan?”

He turned so quickly he kicked up the ash around him, but she didn’t seem to care as it matted into her hair, making it a collage of black and golden. The ash at her feet was gurgling and surging around her, but on closer inspection it was simply her shadows dancing.

“Sometimes for something to grow, it has to ruined first.” He tried to look her in the eyes, but her gaze was stuck on his chest.

He was well aware of how good looking he was. Defined muscles, short hair that extenuated his jaw line, eyes that screamed at you to join him in bed, he was a real catch – confident, and only slightly conceited. Never before had he had trouble getting girls into bed. She, however, might be a challenge.

“Hm.” She finally looked him in the eyes, her smile feline. Although they had spent hours that day talking, and, well, shamelessly flirting on his part, her smiles had all had an unanticipated kindness in them. He’d heard of her reputation; she was a woman who had no interest in relationships, least of all her own, and had the sort of independence and strength that could take over the world if she wanted. It seemed like that was now shining through.

“I was under the impression that it would be a great while before I saw you again.” It was true; when she’d left him earlier that day, her indifference to him was apparent. She’d spoken to him the way one might speak to a close friend, and she had made no actions that made him think she was interested in what he had to offer.

A Court. That is what he might one day be able to offer this wild woman. He had never loved a woman before, but maybe he could do that to.

“Lucky for you, I have a rather intelligent brother who convinced me of your cause.”

Lachlan scoffed. “I don’t know if intelligent is the word for Kaden. It doesn’t seem to really convey his depth of knowledge.”

“That is true,” she conceded. “There are plenty of things he knows better than anyone else – more than any library, any ancient fae or queen or creature. I am one of those things.” She stalked over to him until she was only inches from him, the heat from his body surely making her uncomfortable.

“And what did he say to convince you to see me again?”

“I told him of my aversion to having a mate.”

Lachlan had to stop himself from blanching at her words. His muscles did visibly tighten though. At the sight, she reached out a hand and grazed it across his tan skin.

“And he said although a mate right now is… not ideal, a friend isn’t.”

“A friend?” From the small morsel he had already gotten from her earlier, he knew that to have this woman, even if as just a friend, would be an honour. One, considering his depraved behaviour in the past, he did not know if he deserved.

But then again, she seemed just as depraved as him.

“I need you to know that I want to get to know you. To explore this.” She gestured between them. “But I cannot make you promises. Do not take this as me leading you on somehow.”

“I hear you loud and clear.” He smirked at her.

“I don’t want a mate,” she clarified. “Not now, maybe not ever.”

“Perfectly understood.”

____

Four years later, Raziya awoke to Lachlan gently using his fingers to comb out the many knots from her hair, all created the night before from roaming hands. She hummed at how nice it felt to have him next to her, even after all this time, as the morning sun seared their backs through the open window.

“We should get up,” she said as she had no intention of doing so at all.

“It can wait.”

“Our whole family is waiting for us,” she sighed, trying to psych herself into getting up.

“Helion owns the hall where we’re having the ceremony, time isn’t an issue here.”

That was true. They had decided to have their official mating ceremony in the great halls of the Summer Court, the spiral labyrinths a poetic joke between the pair – the winding, complicated towers to reflect how complicated they sometimes were.

“Although true, I’m also ready to shout from the fucking rooftops that you’re my mate.” She rolled over so she was straddling him – not to be sexual, but so she could be as close to him as possible. She leaned down on his chest, her cheek pressed to his heart.

“Well, you did take your time on that one,” he chuckled, pinching her sides.

“I love you.” She leaned up rested her forehead on his, thanking the Cauldron, as she did every day, that she fell in love with her best friend.

“I am very lovable,” was all he said before he took her once more, showering her with the passion he had felt for her the moment the bond had snapped into place.


End file.
